Battery Oakland Plans Shelved Says Battery SF Owner Michael Birch In Zennie62Media Exclusive - ATLNews

Battery Oakland Plans Shelved Says Battery SF Owner Michael Birch In Zennie62Media Exclusive Two years ago, Michael Birch and Xochi Birch, owners of the legendary Battery SF Club announced plans to buy and take over the historic Bellevue Club In Oakland next to Lake Merritt. The news was as exciting as it was controversial because of the white tech-hipster clientele The Battery SF was known for and the seeming clash with Oakland’s intensely anti-gentrification crowd. I met and really hit it off with Michael, who was jazzed over the challenge of establishing the Battery Oakland. He said it would take two years to get off the ground. Two years later and a viewer asked what happened to The Birch’s plan for Oakland. I reached out via email and got this answer: Hi Zennie Unfortunately not any real progress. It's on pause for now as our focus lies elsewhere and we're waiting to see what happens with the economy. It doesn't feel like the right time to open a club or to invest that much in real estate since it needs a significant amount of work. Michael So, if there was ever a sign that Oakland was about to become East San Francisco and gain a higher income crowd, The Battery Oakland would have been it. But now that it’s not happening, I can’t help but feel sad about the news. It’s happening because of problems like the economic downturn but also ones that Michaël is too polite to point to: excessive crime and business disinvestment in Oakland. Sad stuff Oakland’s Government could correct if it stopped playing the information denier game. Mayor Sheng Thao has to take the red pill. Stay tuned.
via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtuOOlkRzzA